In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in how the tactical community approaches it’s PT training designed to better prepare them for the job. The majority of this change has come from the individual operators looking to improve their general physical preparedness (GPP) for the job via an emphasis on more “functional” training. The term “functional training” or “functional fitness” is all the rage these days in the civilian arena, similar to the overuse of the term “tactical” has been in recent years, but I digress…this positive trend toward training that is more functional and job applicable or “real world” in nature, has recently found some acceptance by various branches of the military and tactical LE community. Everyone and his mother has jumped on the “functional fitness/functional training” bandwagon, and that’s not a bad thing per se. However, let’s just say some do it better then others…

Let’s be honest here, in your twenties, you can beat the snot out of yourself in training and come back for more. By your thirties however, there's a price to be paid for it, and by your forties, you can have almost total incapacitation due to an accumulation of injuries if the training that was done in past decades caused excessive wear and tear.
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Special Operations Forces (SOF) such as Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, Air Force Para-Rescue, and Marine Recon, as well as law enforcement tactical units (SWAT), face unique challenges that manifest themselves both physically and mentally.

The extremes of training and combat can dramatically reduce performance: Immune suppression; changes in mental acuity/increases in reaction time; reductions in androgen production (testosterone); increased susceptibility to cold; increased oxidative stress; and other factors will affect the performance of these soldiers directly or indirectly. These highly-specialized soldiers are always looking for an edge to avoid many of the aforementioned problems, and any edge can
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